Three nurse practitioners whose licenses were summarily suspended last week opted out of a hearing for temporary reinstatement Thursday, drawing worried and angry comments from patients who had dialed in for the teleconference hearing.

The temporary fate of dozens of Appalachian Medical Center patients hung in the balance after March 11’s suspensions of Bobby Reynolds II, Tina Killebrew and David Stout. The Tennessee Board of Nursing had taken emergency suspension action over alleged prescription drug-related issues at the 3010 Bristol Highway clinic supervised by Dr. Vance Shaw of Watauga.

In addition to the civil licensure case, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation opened a case on AMC in October 2005, TBI’s Kristin Helm said Thursday.